


Wannabe

by shessocold



Series: I Told I'd Always Love You, I Always Did, I Always Will [11]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Awkwardness, Banter, Birthday Party, Cake, Crushes, Drunken Shenanigans, Enemies to Friends, Established Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Headboy & Headgirl, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Hogwarts, Horny Teenagers, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Making Out, Marauders, Marauders Friendship, Marauders' Era, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Mutual Pining, On Remus' Part, POV Lily Evans Potter, Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter Friendship, Sirius Black & James Potter Friendship, Snogging, Wingman Sirius Black, eventually
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-25 14:17:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13836516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shessocold/pseuds/shessocold
Summary: Lily's mum is making stuff up again.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [YouBlitheringIdiot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/YouBlitheringIdiot/gifts).



Remus Lupin takes it upon himself to send Lily an owl with the news.

“Oh, honestly! I can't believe it!” 

“What's wrong, dear?” asks Lily's mum, without taking her eyes off the 'Headgirl!' cake she's frosting. “Did they change their mind? It's not too late to repurpose this, you know – just as long as you tell me _before_ I have to attempt the cursive g.” 

Lily grins. 

“Nothing, Mum. A friend from school just wrote to tell me who the new Headboy is.” 

“And...?” 

“And he's pretty annoying.” 

Lily's mum lifts one of her thin eyebrows. 

“Is it...?” 

“No, it's not Severus,” says Lily, her mouth twisting slightly. “It's James Potter.” 

“James? I've met him, right?” 

“No, Mum, you most definitely have not met James Potter.” 

“Pretty sure I have. You introduced us a couple of years ago at the train station.” 

“Mum, you're making stuff up _again_.” 

“Well, you probably don't remember. We had a very pleasant chat, too – his mother was also there, lovely woman, I think she's from Cardiff? Something like that.” 

Lily closes her eyes for a second. 

“Mum, trust me, that was not James Potter. I know this for sure. It sounds like you're describing the Lupins, but I don't remember introdu–” 

“See? I told you you had just forgotten about it.” 

** 

Lily gets so frustrated with her mum's cheerful refusal to admit that she's _wrong_ about having met James Potter that she goes upstairs and digs out a picture of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. 

“See?” she says, pointing to James' grinning figure. “ _This_ is James Potter. You have never met him.” 

Lily's mum peers serenely at the moving photograph. 

“Well, he's very fit,” she comments, taking off her reading glasses. “Exactly what level of 'annoying' are we talking about?” 

“Mum!” 

Lily's mum grins. 

“Well, dear, he is. I'm sorry I have eyes.” 

“Even if he were,” says Lily, casting around for a good way to sum up James Potter's character, “that would be beside the point. He's always showing off. It gets tiresome. And he's Quidditch captain, too, which only makes things worse – people fawning over him, the works. I really don't see why the Headmaster would appoint him, he wasn't even a Prefect!” 

Lily's mum goes back to her frosting. 

“Maybe the Headmaster just wanted to set a perfect background to showcase your brilliance, dear.” 

Lily laughs. 

“Yeah, Mum, maybe.” 

** 

“Say, isn't that James Potter over there?” 

Lily's mum's voice carries, it always has, but the fact has never stopped her from asking Lily embarassing questions in public. Sirius Black turns around, scanning the crowd for whoever it was that mentioned his friend's name, his usual cocky grin on lazy display – until he sees Lily and her mum, at which point he gets such a perfectly stunned expression on his face that the whole thing would actually be quite comical, if not for the fact that Lily is busy being completely and utterly mortified. 

“Mum!” she whispers, crossly. “Don't _do_ that.” 

“Do what, dear?” 

“Ask about people when they can hear– oh, goodness, no, I can't believe it. Quick, Mum, let's go.” 

“Why? They're coming over to say hello. Don't be rude, Lily.” 

It's too late anyway. Sirius Black, whom Lily once caught stuffing a Dungbomb inside Slytherin's Sunday roast, takes Lily's mum's hand in his and kisses it, the very picture of a perfect gentleman. 

“Ma'am,” he says, in an exceedingly charming voice, James standing dumbly by his side. “Delighted to finally make your aquaintance. Lily, always a pleasure.” 

Lily glares at him. 

“Mum, this is Sirius Black, and that is James Potter. They're from school.” 

“Nice to meet you,” says Lily's mum, graciously, her hand still in Sirius' pale one. “And you, James. I've heard so much about you!” 

James merely stands and blinks, his face a delicate shade of crimson, until Sirius elbows him. 

“Hi, Evans. Nice to meet you, Mrs Evans,” he says, finally, in a weird choked voice. A brief pause – and then, improbably, to Lily's complete astonishment, “I've heard a lot about you, too.” 

Lily's mum turns to face Lily, amused. 

“Really, dear? Is that so?” 

Lily desperately wills the earth to just open up and swallow her. 

** 

“My sources tell me that both my boyfriend and my best friend are considering running away with your mother, Evans,” says Remus, later that afternoon, slinging his arm around Lily's shoulders. “Please be advised that I will have to put up a small token fight over Sirius, at least – but the sooner she sends for James, frankly, the better. This whole Headboy thing really has gone to his head. Congratulations, by the way!” 

“Oh, don't joke about it, it was a terrible spectacle. They came over and made me introduce them to her, and then my mum went on and on and _on_ about how I keep talking about James...” 

Remus snorts. 

“Wait, do you really?” 

“I do _not_!” says Lily, incensed. “The only reason she even knew he exists is that I was complaing about him being made Headboy, and I showed her a picture.” 

“You keep pictures of James around the house? That's interesting.” 

Lily shoves him. 

“It was a picture of the whole Quidditch team, you twit.” 

Remus shakes his head. 

“Excuses, excuses...” he says, grinning. “Poor James, he's already shaken to his core by the fact that you were actually civil to him this morning – if I tell him that you keep _a picture_ of him, he'll just go ahead and self-combust.” 

Lily rolls her eyes. 

“And to think that I used to think that you were the _least_ annoying of the bunch.” 

** 

“So, Evans, about this morning...” says James, the moment they're out of the Headmaster office. “I'm sorry if we put you in an awkward situation. Sirius insisted that he had heard your mum talk about me, but from the look of you you didn't really want us to come over, did you? And then my brain completely shut off and I started spouting nonsense...” 

He sounds very earnest. Lily realizes suddenly that this is probably the first time he has ever addressed her without Sirius standing by his side. 

“It's fine,” she says, vaguely endeared. “I know it wasn't you idea, and my mum is always thrilled about meeting my friends from school – she was _extremely_ impressed with Sirius' manners, you can tell him that.” 

“Your _friends_?” 

“Well, that's what you are in my mum's head, at least, after your little stunt,” says Lily, but she gives James a little smile. James smiles back. He really is quite fit, Lily's mum wasn't wrong about that. Not that it matters. 

“Fair enough,” says James, fiddling with his Headboy badge. “And maybe now that we have to spend so much time together we could, you know, become friends for real. If you want to.” 

Lily smiles again. The idea does appeal to her, she finds, strangely enough. 

“Maybe,” she agrees, over her shoulder, as she sets off to go find Alice. “Goodnight, Potter. See you tomorrow!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a gift for the lovely @YouBlitheringIdiot, who braved the snow and got a promotion! It probably won't stay a one-shot, just saying...
> 
> Yes the title is from the Spice Girls song, so what. SO WHAT. Zig-a-zig-ah.


	2. Chapter 2

Alice and Frank go all the way one Sunday afternoon in late October.

“I think I'm in love with him.” 

“That good?” asks Lily, impressed. 

Alice laughs. 

“Well, yeah, but that's not all there is to it. It's just... I think he really likes me too, you know?” 

“Of course he does,” says Lily, who's shocked to realize that she's feeling a tinge of... _jealousy_? For Alice and Frank? Surely not. “Last I checked he hadn't hit his head or anything.” 

Alice chuckles. 

“True,” she agrees, nodding in mock solemnity. Lily grins. “Let's go down to dinner, shall we? I'm starving.” 

“I bet, with all that extra exercise.” 

“Lily!” 

** 

Remus shows up for the evening rounds wearing a plain white cotton handkerchief around his neck. 

“And what are you hiding under that handkerchief, Remus, exactly?” 

“It's not a handkerchief, Evans,” says Remus, in a dignified tone, “it's an ascot.” 

“Right, and I am the Queen of England. So? Did you get bitten by a _vampire_?” 

Remus snorts. 

“No, no vampire bites, I promise,” he says, sounding a lot more amused than Lily's rather feeble joke would warrant. “Sirius merely got a bit, er, overenthusiastic.” 

“Oh, did he, now?” says Lily, trying very hard not to imagine how it would feel to have Sirius Black _enthusiastically_ kissing one's neck. “Lucky you." 

“Lily,” says Remus, with a knowing smirk. “Get your imaginary hands off my boyfriend, please.” 

Lily goes red. 

“I wasn't... ! Oh, all right, maybe a bit. Sorry. It gets lonely, you know, now that apparently everyone but me is paired up.” 

Remus frowns. 

“Lonely? You? I'm pretty sure you could walk into the common room and find a volunteer in two minutes flat, if you wanted to. Hell, if _I_ weren't taken...” he says, and he wiggles his brows is such a silly manner that all the lingering awkwardness is instantly dissolved. Lily laughs. 

“I should try, as an experiment. Imagine how stupid I'd feel if it turned out there weren't any takers at all!” 

Remus grins. 

“Yeah, that could only happen if James were in a coma – actually no, you know what, you taking applications for a boyfriend would definitely rouse him from a coma. From death, too, most likely.” 

Lily smiles and looks away. 

“Does he still fancy me, then?” 

“Does Peeves enjoy mayhem?” 

Lily's smile broadens. 

“Well, good to know. OK, enough gossiping, let's go check the fifth floor now.” 

** 

Remus tattles, naturally. The next morning, at breakfast, Lily has a very hard time keeping a straight face when she catches sight of James' look of deepest elation. Sirius winks at her. Lily grins. 

“Am I missing something?” inquires Alice, from behind her bowl of oatmeal. 

Lily clears her throat. 

“Say, Alice,” she begins, conversationally, “what would you say if I told you that I'm considering taking a lover?” 

Alice does a spit-take. 

“What?” she says, in between snorts of laughter. “ _Who_?” 

“James Potter, I was thinking. He's a bit of a show-off, I know, but...” 

“... very fit,” agrees Alice, nodding approvingly. “But when you say 'a lover', do you mean...” 

“... someone to sleep with, yeah,” says Lily, buttering her piece of toast. “I don't think I want _a boyfriend_ , honestly, more like – you know, someone handsome to keep me warm through the winter, if you catch my drift. I'm told that Potter wouldn't be opposed to that, so...” 

Alice laughs again. 

“Understatement of a lifetime, Lils.” 

Lily shrugs, her mouth full of toast. 

“Do I have your blessing, then?” 

Alice smirks. 

“Sure, but you have to promise you'll tell me _everything_.” 

** 

Once she has made up her mind, Lily needs to wait for the right moment to put her plan into action. 

“So, will you ask him out? Or do I need to get him to ask you out? He's already getting paranoid, waiting as he is for independent confirmation of my intelligence.” 

Lily makes a face. 

“Look, Remus, I don't really know about 'asking him out', I was thinking more along the lines of, you know... loneliness relief, let's call it.” 

Remus' eyes go very wide. 

“Lily, don't tell him I said this, but you're going to simultaneously make his day and break his heart if you go about it like that.” 

“Huh?” 

Remus opens his mouth, thinks for a second, closes it, and starts again. 

“You know what, it's really none of my business. But you know, if you can – keep in mind that he does genuinely like you a lot. Don't, you know, toy with his emotions. He can be a bit of an arse, but he's a nice bloke, underneath, honestly, and he's my friend, and look, please, could you interrupt me now? I really don't know where I'm going with this, and I'm already regretting saying anyth–” 

“OK, OK, stop!” 

Remus exhales sharply. 

“Please never repeat any of the things I just told you to anybody, all right?” he says, grimacing slightly. “The only honourable way out if my mates ever get word of this is ritual suicide, and I'd rather not, at least not before I get my N.E.W.T.s.” 

Lily chews on her thumb nail, a bit baffled by the whole thing. 

“All right, don't worry, I won't tell anyone.” 

** 

Lily sits on a balustrade, watching James gleefully cast a spell that forces his friends to stick their fingers up their own noses, and tries to reconcile what she sees with the things that Remus told her the night before. James, and Lily has known him for more than six years, _really_ doesn't seem like the type that would let someone else's negative opinion get in the way of his own abnormally high self-esteem, that much is clear – case in point, his lack of meaningful reaction to the insults Lily hurled his way after that thing with Severus back in their fifth year. _He still fancies me, doesn't he? Even though he knows perfectly well that I don't really_ care _about him, so chances are he doesn't really care about me either, no matter what Remus sa–_

“All right, Evans?” shouts James, all of a sudden, startling her slightly – he's grinning at her from a distance, his hand raised to shield his eyes from the sun. Lily grins back, waving in aknowledgement. Sirius takes advantage of his friend's momentary distraction to unstick his finger from his nose and make James' hair erupt into a rather spectacular display of multi-coloured flames. 

James yelps in surprise. Sirius laughs. After a second, Lily laughs too. 

_Maybe I will ask him out, after all,_ she thinks, amused, watching the flaming James chase after Sirius. _If only to get him to teach me a few of those silly hexes of theirs._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahahaha bitten by a vampire, good one.


	3. Chapter 3

“Hey, Evans!”

Alice stops talking mid-sentence. Lily turns around. Sirius grins. 

“So,” he says, leaning casually against the wall. “It's my birthday on Thursday, and we're having a small get-together to celebrate, and it would be grand if you ladies would decide to honour us with your presence – bring Frank along, Alice, of course.” 

“When you say 'small get-together'...” 

“Raucous midnight party, yes, Evans. Common room, to accomodate the lazy and the superficially rule-abiding among us. So, are you in?” 

“I don't know, Alice, are we in?” 

Alice smirks. 

“I don't know either. I suppose you'll have to wait and see, Black.” 

** 

“Wow, you got all tarted up,” says Alice, approvingly. “I take it you're, er, planning to act?” 

“Seems like the perfect occasion,” confirms Lily. “Say, is this skirt too short?” 

“Yes, definitely. You look fantastic. Potter won't know what hit him.” 

** 

“I think Lupin is drunk.” announces Frank, astonished, when Lily and Alice arrive at the party. 

“Really? _Remus_ Lupin?” 

“Yeah, Lily, I think so,” says Frank, as they watch a very flushed Remus jump onto a table for an impromptu little jig. Alice snorts. 

“All right, I think we're in for a really fun night,” she says, joining the round of applause. 

** 

“I can't believe you came.” 

“Well, Potter, your friend invited me to his party. It was the polite thing to do.” 

James blinks. 

“OK, that's something I wish I had known earlier – he's had _lots_ of birthdays over the years. So many missed opportunities!” 

Lily grins. She hasn't touched the punch yet, but she feels rather warm and giggly all the same. 

“Come a bit closer,” she says, looking up at him through her lashes. “The music is very loud.” 

James swallows. 

“All right,” he says, and he takes a step forward. Lily leans back against the wall. James puts his hand a few inches to the left of Lily's head, as if to shield her from the rest of the party with his arm. 

Lily licks her lips. 

“Are you two _finally_ gettin' it on? About time!” says Remus, very cheerfully, throwing one arm around James' shoulders and the other around Lily's and slopping quite a bit of his drink in the process. “I knew it was just a matter of time, I _knew_ it!” 

“Moony, for fuck's sake,” says Sirius, peeling Remus away from James and Lily. “He's going to want to die when he sobers up, I tell you. I've spent the night trying to keep him from making a prat of himself, but he's surprisingly sneak– _Moony_! Stop! Don't do that! We need that chandelier! Peter, c'mon, at least _try_ to take his wand... all right, all right, I'm coming. Prongs, Evans, as you were.” 

Lily grins. 

“Say, what's with the nicknames?” 

“Huh?” 

“Prongs, Moony...” she says, fingering the fabric of his shirt. 

James clears his throat. 

“It's nothing. Sirius just, er, likes to make stuff up.” 

“But he has one too, doesn't he? I've heard you call him Pads.” 

James doesn't say anything for a while. 

“Yeah,” he admits eventually. “They're just, you know, nicknames we have. No story behind them.” 

“Right,” says Lily, wondering why he would lie. “Where were we?” 

“I mean, there _is_ a story,” amends James. “But I really can't tell you, Lily, I'm sorry.” 

“It's all right! Really,” says Lily, torn between _he called me by my first name!_ and _Severus couldn't_ possibly _be right about Remus, could he?_ “Let's talk about something else.” 

James takes a deep breath. 

“You look beautiful tonight, Lily – I mean, not that you don't always, you do, it's just that...” 

“James?” 

“Y-yes?” 

“Stop talking,” she says, and she kisses him. 

** 

“So this is what the boys' dorms look like. Interesting. They're perfectly identical to ours, turns out,” jokes Lily, grinning at James. “Crazy, huh?” 

James nods, dazed. 

“So,” says Lily, “which one is your bed?” 

James points a slightly trembling finger towards the first bed on their left. Lily goes and sits on it. 

“I keep waiting for my alarm to go off,” says James, shaking his head softly. 

Lily grins again. 

“C'mere,” she says, patting the mattress. “We were in the middle of something, weren't we?” 

“We were,” confirms James, sounding completely incredulous. “Blimey.” 

** 

James smells very nice. Lily runs the fingers of her right hand through his hair, grinning at the memories of all the times she's scoffed at the sight of him doing the exact same thing. 

“Is everything OK?” asks James, pulling away from their kiss. “Why are you laughing?” 

“I'm not,” says she, pulling him back in. She loves snogging him, she has found out. He's good at it, and he's not half as annoying when he's by himself as he is when he's with his mates. “Come here.” 

“Merlin's beard, Lily, you're bloody brilliant – when it comes to snogging, but also, you know, in general. Really, utterly, bloody brilliant.” 

Lily doesn't say anything, but she takes his hand from where it's resting on her hip and places it on her bare thigh instead, far up enough that his warm fingers slip under the hem of her skirt. 

James' eyes go wide behind his glasses. 

“Seriously?” 

“Yeah,” says Lily, her heart thumping in her chest, “go ahead, Potter.” 

James makes an odd choked noise, and it's right at that moment that the door opens. 

“Yeah, right,” says Sirius, amused. “I'd love to see you try, Moony, pissed as you are.” 

“I'm _perfectly_ capable of... oh, hi, Evans,” says Remus, his tone going from petulant to thrilled once he spots Lily and James. “Looks like we'll have to share the room, Pads, dear.” 

“Go away, you two, or I'll hex you into a jelly,” says James, through gritted teeth. His hand is still placed firmly on Lily's leg, as if to defend the progress he's made during the evening. Lily snorts. 

“It's all right, don't worry, I'll go,” she says, smoothing out her skirt. James gapes at her, bewildered. 

“No, stay, I'll just... I will take him into the bathroom and I will tie him up, or something,” says Sirius, his arms around the squirming Remus. “Honestly, don't leave on our account. Please. James'll kill me.” 

“It's a yes from me on the 'tie me up' thing, by the way,” says Remus, prompting Sirius to clap a hand over his mouth. “Mmhhffhg mmffgh.” 

Lily grins. 

“No, really, it's your room, I should be going. Potter, will you follow me outside for a second?” 

James does as told, still looking like Christmas has been cancelled at the last second. Lily, with a jolt of excitement, lets her gaze linger on the obvious bulge in his trousers. _I'd love to just reach out and touch him_ she thinks, before forcing herself to look up at his face instead. She gives him what she hopes is a seductive smile. He smiles back, his glasses slightly askew, looking very cute indeed. 

“James, I had a lot of fun tonight,” she says, twisting a strand of hair around her finger. “Say, do you want to do it again some other time?” 

“I – yeah, sure, of course! Whenever you want!” 

“And maybe we could go someplace a little more private, or put a Full Body-Bind Curse on Remus before we start.” 

James snorts. 

“Yeah, that would be a smart move, actually.” 

Lily smiles at him. He smiles back. Her knees feel suspiciously wobbly all of a sudden. 

“Well, give me a kiss goodnight, then, will you?” 

James obliges.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hai Evans.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Will there be a sequel? You know me, folks. There will probably be one.


End file.
